Melissa Kingston was asked by the group of area neighborhood associations to act as the neighborhood representative for negotiations with Walmart regarding its new store opening in the former Whole Foods space on Lowest Greenville. Melissa (as BACD resident most of you know) provided this update:

I am writing to update you on the status of the neighborhood’s discussions with Wal-Mart regarding its Lower Greenville Ave. store, which is scheduled to open in October. The store will be a “neighborhood market” concept like the one at Hall and Hwy 75.

Representatives of all 5 neighborhood associations in the area, including Belmont Neighborhood Association, Lower Greenville Neighborhood Association, Lower Greenville West Neighborhood Association, Greenland Hills Neighborhood Association and Vickery Place Neighborhood Association, have been working together to negotiate with Wal-Mart and its development team since March regarding the construction at the vacant Whole Foods/Blockbuster site. We have also been working with Councilmembers Angela Hunt and Pauline Medrano.

After several months of negotiations, we are pleased to announce that Wal-Mart has addressed a number of neighborhood concerns regarding after-hours parking lot use, lighting, security, landscaping and streetscaping. Wal-Mart has agreed to:

– Use private security to keep others from using its parking lot after hours, which should help with noise issues for adjacent residents and crime issues
– Install new lighting technology that will produce less light pollution that the lights previously used at this site
– Route truck traffic and deliveries on Richmond to reduce noise and truck traffic issues for adjacent residents
– Install a new fence along the back of its property to buffer the site from residents immediately behind the site
– Install new landscaping, including several new trees and shrubs and irrigation, along Belmont and Greenville Avenues
– Use some natural components, like stone, on the building facade
– Install sidewalk pavers and pony walls along Greenville to match the new streetscape improvements along Lowest Greenville

Wal-Mart also intends to make donations to local charities.

Copies of some of the landscaping and streetscaping improvements are below.

Through the collective efforts of the neighborhood associations along Greenville Avenue, we have gained several concessions from Wal-Mart that we believe will be a better fit with our community than originally planned and that address a number of concerns raised by area residents. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Melissa Kingston at belmontaddition@yahoo.com.